Library Sign: Armstrong Books To Go To Fiction Section

Screen grab of the cover of Lance Armstrong's book, "It's Not About the Bike." (Credit: Amazon.com)Screen grab of the cover of Lance Armstrong's book, "It's Not About the Bike." (Credit: Amazon.com)

PLANO, Texas (CBS Houston/AP) – A sign posted in an Australian library told patrons that all nonfiction books about Lance Armstrong would be moved to the facility’s fiction section.

“All Non-Fiction Lance Armstrong Books, including ‘Lance Armstrong – Images of a Champion’, ‘The Lance Armstrong Performance Program and ‘Lance Armstrong: World’s Greatest Champion,’ will soon be moved to the fiction section,” the sign, posted this past weekend at Sydney’s Manly Library and widely believed to be a joke, stated.

A photograph taken of the notice quickly went viral, sparking an internal investigation at the library as to the source of the post, according to Reuters. The notice was reportedly deemed a prank when officials commented on the matter.

“Libraries can’t arbitrarily reclassify categories of books, because that depends on the ISBN number that is issued by the National Library,” a spokesman at Manly Council, which oversees the library, was quoted as saying on Monday by Reuters.

The Plano, Tex. native has been embroiled in a doping scandal, which came to a head late last week.

He was light on the details and didn’t name names, but Armstrong ultimately confessed to doping during his cycling career. He mused that he might not have been caught if not for his comeback in 2009. And he was certain his “fate was sealed” when longtime friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie, who was along for the ride on all seven of Armstrong’s Tour de France wins from 1999-2005, was forced to give him up to anti-doping authorities.

But right from the start and more than two dozen times during the first of a two-part interview last Thursday night with Oprah Winfrey on her OWN network, the disgraced former cycling champion acknowledged what he had lied about repeatedly for years: He was the ringleader of an elaborate doping scheme on a U.S. Postal Service team that swept him to the top of the podium at the Tour de France time after time.

Armstrong told Winfrey he started doping in mid-1990s but didn’t when he finished third in his comeback attempt.

But for anti-doping officials, the interview isn’t enough.

They have, in fact, said nothing short of a confession under oath — “not talking to a talk-show host,” as World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman put it — could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong’s lifetime ban from sanctioned events.

He’s also had discussions with officials at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, whose 1,000-page report in October included testimony from nearly a dozen former teammates and led to stripping Armstrong of his Tour titles.

Shortly after, he lost nearly all his endorsements, was forced to walk away from the Livestrong cancer charity he founded in 1997, and just this week was stripped of his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics.